The Pope’s new Spanish Cardinal, Fernando Sebastián has called homosexuality a “defect” that can be cured.

Fernando Sebastián, 85, compared his own high blood pressure to homosexuality. He told Spanish newspaper Diario Sur yesterday, “Homosexuality is a defective manner of expressing sexuality, because [sex] has a structure and a purpose, which is procreation. A homosexual who can’t achieve this [procreation] is failing.”

He added, “Our bodies have many defects. I have high blood pressure.”

When questioned about whether he thought it was insulting to call homosexuality a defect, he said that it was helpful because addressing the problem would make it “possible to recover and become normal with the right treatment.”

The new cardinal’s comments come soon after Pope Francis was named Person of the Year by Attitude Magazine. He was praised for saying that he did not judge gay people.

Sebastián insists that his views on homosexuality do not conflict with the Pope’s. He said, “It’s one thing to be compassionate towards a homosexual person and another thing to morally justify the practice of that homosexuality.

“You can tell a person what their weakness is but that doesn’t justify [a decision] to respect them and help them. I think that’s the Pope’s position as with gay marriage and divorce,” he concluded.

Sebastián will officially take up the position as Spain’s newest cardinal next month.